Zangetsu / Kiryu [R]

Kanji & Romaji: hiphopvomit
Translation: myself

Lyrics: Kurosaki Mahiro
Music: Kujou Takemasa






残月 [Zangetsu] (no vid available)
Morning moon*



Rotten tatami mat      Creaking footsteps under the morning moon*
In the dark night, dazzling grin     Illuminating with satisfaction
Clings in white to the midday sky
In the evening of dawn (1)     The crane and turtle slipped (2)

"Floating on (one side of) the body in that muddy sea, I laughed devouring it all by myself"

Rotten tatami mat     "1, 2, 3, 4..." counting song (3)
The one who stands behind      Is [my honorable] older brother with a pregnant descendant (4)

"This thing, this thing inside me is still twisting (5), crawling, revolving and clamouring"

Dim     Mixed     Revolving     Blearing chastity
Fluttering (6)     Corruption (7)     Chaos     Irregularly distorting

Rotten tatami mat      Creaking footsteps under the morning moon
In a bed, dazzling grin    Rumbling with satisfaction
Opens bloodshot eyes in consternation
Inside the cage of teases (8)     When, ah, when will it come out (9)

"Rising, falling and becoming stagnant in 36 C of your (10) pus, [while] swaa~aying"

Dim     Mixed     Revolving     Blearing chastity
Fluttering     Corruption     Chaos     Irregular distortion
Link     and open     Opened     link those hands (11)
Creak     Clatter     Drip

Kiss [me]


Footnotes:

*Actually: moon visible in the morning

1. See: discussion
2. See: discussion
3. Actually old way of counting; as in　ひい　ふう　みい　よお　いつ　むう　なあ　やあ　こお　とお [hii fuu mii yoo itsu muu naa yaa koo too] - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...and so on and so forth; Mahiro here actually counts to four; the number four 四 [shi] though is a homophone to 死 [shi] - death, therefore I'd call it counting to... death
4. Or paternal blood - a reference to the sister (see: discussion)
5. Wordplay: 捩る [nejiru] - to twist / to distort / to torture written as 螺子る [nejiru] where 螺子 [neji] stands for helix
6. Or to linger
7. Actually: conduct that is immoral and lacking in common sense
8. A reference to Kagome kagome: kago can mean cage as well (see also: discussion)
9. See: discussion
10. Actually: what a woman calls her beloved man
11. Reference to Japanese game Musunde, hiraite - a clapping game

Discussion:

Welcome to Mahiro's wicked family saga and this is its very first part. Mahiro himself confirmed it is meant to be a story, so it was a bit easier for me to decipher. He even mentioned some characters. How. Kind. Of. Him.

Anyway.
First of all, I would like to elaborate on Kagome kagome motif that is present throughout the entire series. It is a children's game with a song associated with it. Lyrics are:

Kagome, kagome
[Looking through] holes in the basket,

Kago no naka no tori ha
Where a certain bird dwells,

Itsu, itsu deyaru
When, ah, when will it come out?

Yoake no ban ni
In the evening of dawn

Tsuru to kame ga subetta
The crane and turtle slipped

Ushiro no shoumen daare
Can you tell who stands behind you?

[translation: myself]

Basically, a bunch of children revolves in circle around a blindfolded chosen one called oni (it) while singing Kagome kagome. When the ushiro no shoumen daare part comes, children stop revolving and the oni has to tell who stands behind him/her.

Sole Kagome kagome lyrics can harbor multiple interpretations. Besides the fact it is just a children's tune (warabe uta), it can be also about a pregnant woman (since kagome or more likely kakome can stand for pregnant woman), a prisoner who waits for their death penalty or about a woman who is forced to prostitute.

It is also worth mentioning, the line tsuru to kame ga subetta can be interpreted as a long life or luck which is about to come to an end. Also - an upcoming tragedy. Crane and turtle are a symbol of luck and longevity in Japan, that is.

Okay, let's go back to our story. Mahiro's happy series' main protagonists are sibilings: sister - the oldest sibiling, older brother and younger brother. There's also their mother and father. Zangetsu is written from younger brother's point of view. He's a witness of his sister being tormented and sexually harrassed by their father. However, sister being ultimately fed up with that - kills her own father and performs necrophilia on his cadaver. Lyrics also reveal that the sister might be in conspiracy with younger brother and they probably ran away together.

Now wait for the next part to be published.

Next is Juusanya